


Nightmares

by crescentmoonthemage



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Crescent Writes A Fic, Kylux - Freeform, M/M, a bit OOC, as ever, hux is scowly, kylo wants so much, like literally - Freeform, pre-force awakens, pretty fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 20:17:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5553863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crescentmoonthemage/pseuds/crescentmoonthemage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kylo Ren's sleeping hours are filled with nightmares.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Well I jumped on the Kylo/Hux bandwagon and now I am literal Kylux trash. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> \--CM

Kylo Ren’s sleeping hours are filled with nightmares.

 

Every night, when his sleeping period comes and he drifts off, he wakes, hours later, screaming, soaked in sweat. He never remembers the dreams when he wakes up, only that they are dark and filled with pain, unimaginable, inscrutable. It takes a monumental effort to get back to sleep. Usually he doesn’t. He puts on the mask and walks the halls of Starkiller Base or the Finalizer until rage compels him to destroy something or sleep pulls him back into his quarters.   Occasionally, he passes convoys of Stormtroopers on night duty, droids at work building this section or that. He passes Captain Phasma on one occasion, leading an unnamed prisoner by the arm. He walks by General Hux a few nights later, who glares at him and tells him not to destroy anything else on his precious ship, thank you very much. Hux is very,  _ very  _ good at complaining and glaring. It seems those are the two things he does best.

 

He’s never exchanged much with the man, a sentence here, a fleeting glance there, a brush of their shoulders, barely noticeable, when they walk side by side, reporting to Snoke. Kylo wouldn’t really count that as  _ knowing.  _ Much as he’s concerned, General Hux is just another commander, another warm body on the base.

 

Kylo’s nightmares are especially bad one night, and when he wakes up, a scream caught in his throat, he puts on the mask and his robes and stalks out into the base. He wanders for what feels like hours, down dark halls, glancing out thick windows into the cold recesses of space. When sleep is threatening to glue his eyelids shut, he takes a shortcut back to his quarters and ends up on the bridge.

 

There’s no one working that he sees, and he’s about to walk on through when he sees a flash of ginger behind the command console. He glances over to find Hux working away at something. His eyes are narrowed and his nose is scrunched in concentration as he glances at the screen he’s working on. “It’s rather late,” Kylo says, out of the blue. Hux looks over, eyes widening in nearly imperceptible surprise, but he does cover it well.

 

“Lord Ren,” he says, smoothly, turning away from the screen. “I could say the very same thing to you.”

 

“I don’t really sleep much,” replies Kylo. He’s not really sure why he’s talking to Hux, other than a sudden and burning ache for company. 

 

Hux turns back to the screen. “Neither do I,” he says, hitting a few buttons. “Too much to do.”

 

“How close is the project to completion?” Kylo asks. He knows it’s not done yet, he’s seen the building crews. 

 

Hux glares at him. “It would be closer were you not so prone to temper tantrums.”

 

“They’re not temper tantrums,” says Kylo, and he’s growing very tired of Hux’s company, so he leaves for his quarters. As the door the bridge slides open and he walks out, he hears Hux say:  “I think that proves my point exactly.”

 

The next night when he wakes, Kylo’s wanderings put him on the bridge again, after a while. Hux is working again, in almost the same position as he was the night before, and when Kylo sees him, he remarks: “Do you ever leave the bridge?”

 

Hux looks over at him scathingly. “Do you ever leave me alone?”

 

“I did. All day today.”

 

“You destroyed an entire cell block with your saber. You didn’t offend me personally, but you did create plenty of issues for me.”

 

Kylo shrugs. “I was having a bad day.”

 

“Aren’t you always?” asks Hux, but it’s less chilly this time.

 

This is true, Kylo thinks, and he smiles under the mask. Hux’s face changes, slightly, and Kylo’s not quite sure what to think.

 

“What’s with the bucket?” asks Hux, stepping away from the console and one, single step closer to Kylo. 

 

“Do you have a problem with it?” asks Ren, simply, voice smooth. Hux glares at him, turning back to the console, but a moment later, he’s taking another step closer. “What does your face look like, underneath?”

 

“I prefer not to show anyone,” Kylo says, but his voice is low, and less serious than before.

 

“There’s no one else here,” says Hux, patronizing expression dominating his face. His hair is perfect, and Kylo’s not sure why he’s suddenly noticing it, but not a single ginger strand is out of place. He has a strange and sudden urge to run his fingers through it. Perhaps it’s just for the purpose of seeing Hux disheveled. 

 

Kylo douses this strange idea, shoulders hitching up to somewhere around his ears in a shrug as he sighs loudly. “Fine,” he says, lazily unclasping the fastenings and taking the helmet off, shaking his hair loose. “Satisfactory?”

 

Hux nods once, swiftly, but looks almost indecisive, if the man’s capable of such an emotion. He says, “There’s no need to cover your face, Ren. It’s a perfectly good face. Why do you always cover it?”

Kylo doesn’t tell him, instead tucks the helmet under his arm. “Good night, Hux,” he says, and then swiftly leaves the room before anything regrettable happens. 

 

Kylo’s next night passes without a nightmare, which Kylo thinks is good but also sort of  _ not,  _ and he’s really not sure why until he passes Hux and Phasma in one of the hallways. The man does nothing more than glance at him, eyes passing from the mask to the dark robes before he walks on and vanishes around the corner, but Kylo feels  _ undone,  _ somehow, like Hux has taken him apart.

 

When he wakes, swallowing terror, the next night, he goes straight to the bridge. He forgoes the mask.

 

Hux isn’t there.

 

Kylo pretends not to be disappointed, because of course he’s not, but Hux isn’t where he should be and Kylo’s not sure what to think of that. He ends up idly sitting in one of the swivel chairs until early morning, but no one shows up and eventually he leaves. He’s so angry, for some reason, that he punches a wall on the way out and savors the feel of blood trickling down his knuckles for just a moment. Then he realizes Hux doesn’t like him destroying things and he stalks away without inflicting further damage upon anything. 

 

Later that morning, he’s meditating in his chambers when there’s a knock on the door. A Stormtrooper is standing outside, shuffling his feet. “Your presence is requested with the Supreme General immediately.” When Kylo nods and steps, the Stormtrooper marches away and joins a squadron down the hall.

 

On the way to see Snoke, Kylo sees a flash of ginger hair coming his direction and almost trips over a wayward mouse droid. Indeed, it was Hux, scowl less harsh as he falls into easy step with Kylo. “Destroyed anything today?” he asks, shiny shoes so near to Kylo’s own.

 

“Well, I did punch one wall, but that was it. You know I do live for your pride, Hux,” Kylo replies, heavily slathering on sarcasm. Hux smiles, but it’s a strange thing, a quirk of pink lips, so very unlike a scowl that it makes Kylo’s stomach twist.

 

Hux opens his mouth as if to say something else but they’re entering the hologram chamber now, they can already see Snoke flickering to life on the opposite wall, and so he stays silent, wisely so.

 

Kylo pretends not to notice that when he slows down, almost minisculey so, Hux does too, their steps still matching. Kylo pretends not to notice that when they stop, side by side in front of Snoke, they are close, close enough that their shoulders are touching and their hands are too, nearly, nearly, a brush of fingers. Kylo’s still behind the mask so he can do what he wants, and he’s sure he’s blushing but he’s not sure why.

He’s practically willing himself to wake the next night and when he does, tangled in the bedsheets, terror receding, he’s almost happy for a strange and perverse reason he’s not quite sure of. Then, when he puts on the mask and goes to the bridge, sees Hux working away and realizes that he’s smiling underneath the black mask, he knows.

 

He hates himself for it.

 

He leaves that night before Hux sees him, forcing himself away, but the next night he’s back on the bridge again and he’s walking up to Hux before he can stop himself. The man looks slightly less grumpy than usual, which Kylo thinks is a good sign, but he also looks exhausted. Kylo walks up beside him slowly, unfastening his mask, and when Hux turns to face him there’s a very small smile on his face.

 

“Your hair’s all wrong,” says Kylo, suddenly noticing. Because it  _ is.  _ It’s not perfect like usual, it’s all disheveled and strange looking. Before he can stop himself, Kylo reaches forward with one tentative hand and smoothes it back into place, running his fingers through it. Hux closes his eyes for  _ just an instant  _ and his hand moves up to ghost for  _ just an instant  _ over Ren’s cheekbone __ before he’s scowling and stepping away. “Don’t touch me, Ren,” he growls, turning back to his work.

 

Kylo feels full of defeat, like a depressed balloon, and he pulls the mask back on over his face. “You should get some sleep, General,” he says, after a time. “The First Order would do poorly with a sleep-deprived leader.”

 

He feels Hux’s icy glare on his back before he walks out of the room.

 

He doesn’t go back to the bridge. When he wakes at night, he tries to get back to sleep unsuccessfully, not leaving his chamber, not seeking Hux. Of the man himself, he only saw Hux once more for a week, in passing, as Kylo stalked through the bridge to talk to Phasma and found the general at his normal post. Hux had noticed him, of course, but Kylo had said nothing, only seethed silently behind the mask. Hux’s eyes had traveled over him, and what  _ was _ that simmering behind his green eyes? It was hunger, starving and wild, but there was also a tiny hint of regret. Kylo had avoided his eyes after that, only staring at the top of his perfect hairline for an instant before walking away. 

 

No, he wasn’t bitter.

 

It got to be so that after a botched training session in the combat room, he was so angry that he whipped out his lightsaber and destroyed the entire room.  _ Fuck  _ General Hux and what he would think. He considered going and finding the man just to throw it in his face, but he didn’t. 

 

That night, there was a knock on his door. The mask was across the room, but he didn’t feel like getting it. Whichever Stormtrooper it was could deal with his face, for once. 

When he opened his door, he wished he had the mask on to cover his surprise. In front of him was standing General Hux, hands to his sides, a scowl on his face.

 

“I’m sorry for destroying the training room, there, it’s out, now go away, General,” says Kylo, already tired of what’s going to happen. He looks down at Hux’s shined leather shoes, rage and regret pulsing in his brain. 

 

Hux is silent for a moment before he says, very quietly: “Your hair’s all wrong.” When Kylo looks up at Hux, the scowl’s gone and the hunger’s back, filling his green eyes with something very human. His hand reaches up, straightens Kylo’s robe, and then settles heavily on his neck, infusing Kylo’s entire being with a hot sort of feeling, like he’s on fire. 

 

On a whim, he gently reaches up and tangles his fingers in Hux’s hair, and by god the man  _ smirks  _ at him before leaning forward and smashing their lips together.

 

Kylo pulls Hux inside, after a moment, and shuts the door.

 

In the end, there’s nothing gentle about it. It’s rough, and coarse, and everything both of them never knew they wanted  _ so much.  _

  
Kylo Ren’s sleeping hours are filled with nightmares, but at least that night, when he wakes, there’s green hunger in the eyes of Hux that drags him to better places. 


End file.
